A few years ago, when it came to considering where to go to buy high-end or luxury items, Center City would be the location of choice. Well, trips to the city are being replaced to jaunts to the suburbs.

“If you polled 10 retailers and asked them if they had a store in Philadelphia, I’m willing to bet that seven of those 10 would say, ‘Yes, in the King of Prussia Mall,’” CBRE First Vice President of Retail Services Paige Jaffe said at Bisnow’s Philadelphia Retail Summit. “And of course, that’s not Center City. It’s the most difficult part of drawing in retail tenants.” As one of the best-performing malls in the country, King of Prussia has a roster of luxury apparel and fashion retailers that Center City cannot match, even on its prime drag, Walnut Street, writes Matthew Rothstein for Bisnow Philadelphia.

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King of Prussia, as one of the best-performing malls in the country, boasts a lineup of heavy hitters of fashion retailers. Center City’s roster is a little light — and getting lighter — in that regard.

“The brands that I see having success on Walnut Street are more approachable; I don’t anticipate Cartier opening a location there,” Post Brothers principal Randy Hope said. “Philadelphia’s got grit; it’s a tough city for outsiders, but there are a lot of other tough cities.” For Center City District Director of Business Attraction and Retention Casandra Dominguez, convincing a national retailer to locate in Center City, either in addition to or instead of King of Prussia, is a big part of her job. One of her primary talking points in those conversations is Center City’s access to transit and its residents’ dependence on it.

For Center City District Director of Business Attraction and Retention Casandra Dominguez, convincing a national retailer to locate in Center City, either in addition to or instead of King of Prussia, is a big part of her job. One of her primary talking points in those conversations is Center City’s access to transit and its residents’ dependence on it.

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